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localId
1103358
label
California Mission Indians
core
doc
dtoType
document
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
1103358
sourceUrl
contentType
document
title
California Mission Indians
citationUrl
collections
Bradley H. Patterson Files (Ford Administration)
Bradley Patterson's Native American Programs Files
subjects
Indians of North America
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1103358
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1976-11-01
month
11
year
1976
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1976-11-01
month
11
year
1976
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nara-archive
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1
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0
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document
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a6c65a7ec4cf486f
ocrText
The original documents are located in Box 1, folder "California Mission Indians" of the
Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Copyright Notice
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of
photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Gerald Ford donated to the United
States of America his copyrights in all of his unpublished writings in National Archives collections.
Works prepared by U.S. Government employees as part of their official duties are in the public
domain. The copyrights to materials written by other individuals or organizations are presumed to
remain with them. If you think any of the information displayed in the PDF is subject to a valid
copyright claim, please contact the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library.
Digitized from Box 1 of the Bradley H. Patterson Files at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
STATES OF THE
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS
WASHINGTON, D. C. 20245
March
THE
IN REPLY REFER TO:
Trust Services
Acq. & Disp.
BCCO 5703
Mrs. Alice Mills Rementeria
Apartment 2
1038 West Hays Street
Banning, California 92220
Dear Mrs. Rementeria:
President Ford has asked us to reply to your letter of September 15,
relating to the Mission Indian Allotment Act and other matters.
The statute authorizing the making of allotments to California
Mission Indians is worded in a manner that enables the Secretary of
the Interior to exercise his option and discretion in determining
whether or not allotments should be made. Only after the Secretary
has agreed to and has approved allotment selections, have the courts
held that it is mandatory that he issue patents to the allottees.
The allotment process has been discontinued for over forty years as
a matter of policy in some instances, and as a matter of law in others.
This was in keeping with the desire of the Indian community itself
which saw in the allotment process the individualization of community
lands and the subsequent loss of these lands through sale and other
forms of alienation.
Your letter also inquires about the availability of certain former
railroad sections of land. We are asking the Sacramento Area
Director, Mr. William E. Finale, Federal Office Building, 2800
Cottage Way, Sacramento, California 95825, to provide you a further
response on this question.
Sincerely yours,
FORD LIBRARY & GERALD
(SGD) THEODORE KR.
Deputity
Commissioner of Indian Affairs
CC: Sacramento Area Director with copy of incoming for reply
Bradley H. Patterson, Jr., The White House